Climate Change Renewable Energy Technologies 2

Question 1

What is the primary advantage of offshore wind farms compared to onshore installations?

Accepted Answer

Stronger and more consistent wind speeds

Answer

Offshore wind farms benefit from stronger, more consistent winds over open water, enabling higher capacity factors than onshore sites.

Question 2

Which photovoltaic cell technology currently holds the highest certified efficiency record in laboratory conditions?

Accepted Answer

Multi-junction concentrator cells

Answer

Multi-junction concentrator solar cells, which stack multiple semiconductor layers to capture different light wavelengths, have achieved laboratory efficiencies exceeding 47%.

Question 3

What does the term 'capacity factor' mean when applied to a wind turbine?

Accepted Answer

The ratio of actual energy produced to maximum possible energy over a period

Answer

Capacity factor is the ratio of actual electrical energy output over a period to the theoretical maximum if the turbine operated at full capacity the entire time.

Question 4

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants differ from photovoltaic systems primarily because they:

Accepted Answer

Use mirrors to focus sunlight and generate heat to drive turbines

Answer

CSP plants use mirrors or lenses to concentrate sunlight into heat, which drives a steam turbine to generate electricity, unlike PV which directly converts photons to electrons.

Question 5

Which renewable energy source provides the largest share of US electricity generation as of the mid-2020s?

Accepted Answer

Wind

Answer

Wind power surpassed hydropower to become the leading US renewable electricity source, generating roughly 10% of total US electricity by the mid-2020s.

Climate Change Practice Test

Climate Change Practice Test

Climate Change Renewable Energy Technologies 2